How to Avoid That ‘Stuffed’ Feeling

Happy Thanksgiving! Did you gobble gobble a little too much? We can
help. Or, are you reading this before your Thanksgiving dinner? In that
case, there's still time! Read on to avoid feeling like
-- well, like a stuffed turkey.

SELF contributing editors and co-founders of C&J Nutrition, Stephanie Clarke and Willow Jarosh, gave us a foolproof plan for avoiding that oh-so-unpleasant “too-full” feeling. (And they also told us what to do if it’s too late and you’re already in food coma mode.)

“To avoid overeating when there’s so much temptation present, you have to be mindful throughout the entire day,” say Clarke and Jarosh. They recommend using the “hunger scale” — picture a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 represents the most hungry you can be (you’re feeling weak and light-headed) and 10 represents the most uncomfortably full you can feel. The point of the scale is to help you check in with yourself before, during and after a meal, so you naturally eat the right portions and don’t overstuff yourself. Here’s how to use it:

Step 1: Make sure that you don’t go into a big meal absolutely starving. Eat a balanced breakfast like whole grain cereal with milk and fruit, a yogurt parfait or an egg sandwich on a whole wheat English muffin. Depending on the time of your Turkey Day feast, you’ll probably want to have a healthy snack between breakfast and your main meal.

Step 2: Check in with yourself before you start your festivities. Where are you on the hunger scale? If you’re at a 1-2 (totally starving), be sure to take things extra slow, as you’ll have a tendency to eat too fast and overstuff yourself quickly. Ideally, you’ll prevent getting to this hunger level by having a snack or appetizer before the meal (fresh veggies and hummus; low-fat cottage cheese and fresh fruit; Greek yogurt and fresh fruit; shrimp cocktail).

Step 3: Take a breath — remember to put down your fork and breathe between bites. This helps you slow down and maintain a more reasonable eating pace. Check in mid-meal to see where you are on the hunger scale. If you’re planning for dessert (and you are, aren’t you?), you may need to stop eating your meal around a 5 (you don’t feel hungry anymore, but your stomach isn’t feeling pressure or fullness yet).

But what if it’s too late and you already overdid it a few slices of pie ago? “If you’ve gotten to the feeling uncomfortable point, moving around can help,” say Clarke and Jarosh. Lying down (even though that’s most likely what you want to do) can cause food that’s still in your too-full stomach to travel upward instead of down (not fun). Take a relaxed 30-45 minute walk to help get things moving in the, er, right direction.

Finally, remember, tomorrow is another day. Have a plan to get right back on track in the morning — eat breakfast and get a workout in! After all, the holiday season has just begun…